It has been a while since we’ve heard from Luke Jackson. There was a digital EP (now available on CD) called Of The Time back in 2021 but Bloom has been five years in the making. Supported by long-time associates Elliott Norris on drums, Sam Mummery and Andy Sharps with guest vocal appearances by Amy Wadge and Edwina Hayes, the album is a collection of new songs displaying a growing maturity and a range of styles. Journals was big step but in terms of progress it is eclipsed by Bloom and Luke does remind us at the end that he’s 30 now.
The opener, ‘Ruler Of Nothing’, is a gentle chug driven by Sam’s bass and just when you think it’s going to burst out it drops back into its groove until the final repeat. Initially, acoustic guitar leads ‘Woman’, a song that begins with regrets over the night before, but there is a delightfully grungy guitar break leading into the last chorus with Luke’s voice at its soulful best. ‘Rubber & Magic’ is an enigmatic title for a gentle song featuring Amy Wadge.
A rock’n’roll chug underpins ‘Curse The Day’ – there is a fair amount of chugging here, something Luke introduced a few years ago and it works really well. Trouble is a repeated theme and ‘Trouble’ is an unaccompanied gospely song, the feel reinforced by finger clicks, and foot stamps. Delicate finger-picked acoustic guitar accompanies ‘Rainbow Valley’, ostensibly about the death of a climber but I feel that there is a lot more to it and Luke is just giving us a glimpse of the story.
It’s back to a bluesy shuffle for ‘The Wire’ and more trouble and next we are reminded that ‘Trouble Don’t Last’. ‘Old Friends’ is a delightfully cynical autobiographical song – I won’t spoil it for you – and then it’s back to gentle acoustic guitar with ‘Hummingbirds Of Kingston’, another enigma. ‘My Busy Mind’ is a low-key blues shuffle – well it is low-key until the band pitches in. Finally, we have more acoustic guitar and Edwina’s vocals for the autobiographical ‘Beside You’.
Bloom has been well worth the wait – twice though and I was hooked. I can’t recommended it highly enough.
Dai Jeffries
Artist’s website: www.lukepauljackson.com
‘The Wire’ – official video:
We all give our spare time to run folking.com. Our aim has always been to keep folking a free service for our visitors, artists, PR agencies and tour promoters. If you wish help out and donate something (running costs currently funded by Paul Miles), please click the PayPal link below to send us a small one off payment or a monthly contribution.
Thanks for stopping by. Please help us continue and support us by tipping/donating to folking.com via
You must be logged in to post a comment.